Fort Worth (1080 KRLD) - The Fort Worth community is mourning the death of a trail-blazing high school basketball coach.
John Gales Sr., who coached basketball and taught in the Fort Worth ISD for almost 40 years, passed away on August 25th at the age of 82.
"It's a great loss to this community, losing a person such as John Gales," says Walter Dansby, who serves as Fort Worth ISD superintendent until 2014.
Gales was a Fort Worth native, graduating from I.M. Terrell High School.
Dansby says Gales was much more than a legendary basketball coach.
"Coach Gales was just a great coach but even a better human being," says Dansby. "He was pleasant to be around, he always had some good advice for any youngster that wanted to listen. He was a great teacher."
Dansby says Gales was a true trail blazer, becoming the district's first Black coach to lead an integrated basketball team when he joined the staff at Trimble Tech in 1968.
"I think about how I moved through the system and gotten promotions and moved forward, but a lot of those things were not possible without the sacrifices of a John Gales and other coaches that I knew growing up," Dansby says.
Gales stayed at Trimble Tech for 30 years, and the school's basketball court now bears his name.
The school will host a memorial service for Gales Friday evening at 7:00.
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